The Second Husband

January 1, 2022

Finally getting over her first husband Derrick's unsolved murder, thirtyish Emma Hawke marries handsome, devoted widower Tom, and all's well until the police show up questioning when she met him. It turns out that they attended the same business meeting two months before Derrick's death, and Emma starts to wonder whether Tom had something to do with Derrick's murder. With a 60,000-copy paperback and 20,000-copy hardcover first printing.

Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 23, 2022
At the start of this meandering domestic thriller from bestseller White (The Fiancée), Emma Hawke, the owner of a business research company specializing in forecasting trends, is awakened late one night by New York City police detectives knocking at the door of her Madison, N.J., home. Her husband, Derrick Rand, was shot and killed in SoHo a few hours earlier. The case is never solved, and Emma has never admitted to anyone “how deeply troubled her marriage had been.” Twenty-seven months later, Emma has married again—to genial widower Tom Halliday, the owner of an advertising firm—and moved to Westport, Conn., “a town that’s part well-heeled suburb, part old New England village.” Her business is thriving, and she’s set on making new friends. Then, the New York police come knocking again, this time to inform her that they’re reopening the investigation into Derrick’s death. Another murder, embezzlement, a long-hidden fraud, and a petulant stepchild are added to the mix in an unsuccessful attempt to keep tension high. Those looking for nail-biting suspense should look elsewhere. Hopefully, White will return to form next time. Agent: Sandra Dijkstra, Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency.

May 15, 2022
White is both a polished writer and a prolific one. Her sixteenth novel since 2002 is a stand-alone that follows Have You Seen Me? (2020). The police have reopened the investigation into the murder of Derrick Rand. His widow, Emma, who was eliminated earlier as a suspect in Derrick's murder, has been happily remarried for two-and-a-half years. Do the cops now think she did it? Do they believe Emma and her second husband, Tom, conspired to kill Derrick? Or are they simply taking another run at a cold case? White gives the reader a lot to wonder about, and she keeps the truth tightly wrapped until she's ready to reveal it. Emma certainly doesn't make things easy for the reader: she admits she's keeping something from the police, but is she keeping something from us, too? Or are we simply misjudging her? This thoroughly involving psychological thriller promises a startling conclusion and delivers it.

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July 1, 2022
A woman's second marriage is thrown into question when the investigation of her first husband's murder is reopened. Emma Hawke is happily married to Tom, a handsome widower and entrepreneur, when detectives show up at their Connecticut home to tell her they're reopening the unsolved murder investigation of her first husband, Derrick, who was killed a few months before she met Tom. As more details emerge about what might have happened to Derrick the night he was killed, the police, and even Emma, start to question Tom, who, she quickly discovers, had actually seen her from afar several times at various speaking engagements before they'd officially met. Between a possibly murderous new husband, a villainous former brother-in-law, an overeager lovesick assistant who attempts to lead Emma astray, an embezzlement scheme that begets yet another (unrelated) murder, and yet another attempted murder following that, either Emma is very unlucky or the plot is very much over-the-top. Because the characters are so flat as to feel like clip-art graphics, it's hard not to go for the second explanation. The dialogue is wooden and unnatural, as if it's being used to give readers information and not portray actual people talking. Emma is a tedious character, as is Tom, which makes the idea that he might be a murderer hard to buy. And for all the drama, the book moves slowly, with the tension only picking up in the final third. By the time the reader has learned what happened and why, it's a letdown because it's so hard to invest in any of the characters. An intriguing premise with a few surprising twists, but it falls flat.

COPYRIGHT(2022) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

May 27, 2022

Emma Hawke is shocked when the police arrive in the night to inform her that her husband Derrick was murdered in New York. Now under scrutiny, she dares not reveal that their seemingly perfect life was less than ideal. Two years later, Emma is in her first year of marriage to Tom. She is a data trend spotter, ambitious and independent, someone who spots irregularities. Tom runs his own company, is a wonderful cook, and is attuned to her needs. Life really is too good to be true. Until the lies begin. With Derrick's murder still unsolved, his brother Kyle claims that Emma was after two valuable family paintings. New York City detective Webster suspects Emma may have hired a hit man. Tom's adult stepdaughter is living with them, straining the marriage. A woman is murdered at his company. When Emma learns Tom has had his eye on her even before Derrick's murder, her suspicions increase. VERDICT White (The Fianc�e) establishes a pervasive uneasy tone, ending chapters with cliffhangers and small revelations that propel this domestic suspense tale to an intense penultimate scene. The final chapter, though, is unexpectedly flat as it ties up story threads. For fans of Hallie Ephron.--Gloria Drake

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